Question: Find the distance between the point ${(-5, 1)}$ and the line $\enspace {x = 3}\thinspace$. ${1}$ ${2}$ ${3}$ ${4}$ ${5}$ ${6}$ ${7}$ ${8}$ ${9}$ ${\llap{-}2}$ ${\llap{-}3}$ ${\llap{-}4}$ ${\llap{-}5}$ ${\llap{-}6}$ ${\llap{-}7}$ ${\llap{-}8}$ ${\llap{-}9}$ ${1}$ ${2}$ ${3}$ ${4}$ ${5}$ ${6}$ ${7}$ ${8}$ ${9}$ ${\llap{-}2}$ ${\llap{-}3}$ ${\llap{-}4}$ ${\llap{-}5}$ ${\llap{-}6}$ ${\llap{-}7}$ ${\llap{-}8}$ ${\llap{-}9}$
Explanation: First, find the equation of the perpendicular line that passes through ${(-5, 1)}$ Since the blue line has an infinite slope, the perpendicular line will have a slope of ${0}$ and therefore will be a horizontal line. The equation of the perpendicular line that passes through ${(-5, 1)}$ is $\enspace {y = 1}\thinspace$ We can see from the graph that the two lines intersect at the point ${(3, 1)}$ . Thus, the distance we're looking for is the distance between the two red points. Since their $y$ components are the same, the distance between the two points is simply the change in $x$ $|{-5} - ( {3} )| = 8$ The distance between the point ${(-5, 1)}$ and the line $\enspace {x = 3}\enspace$ is $\thinspace8$.